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Friday, May 17, 2013

Blogger's Quilt Festival Spring 2013

Welcome! I am excited to share a special quilt with you for Blogger's Quilt Festival. I know there is a lot of quilty goodness to see on all the many links for the quilt festival hosted by Amy's Creative Side, and I appreciate your stopping here for a bit. I'd love it if you'd say hi in the comments.The story of this quilt starts with me doing some cleaning (it gets more exciting, trust me) last October. In the process of decluttering my basement space where I sew, I moved a big green Rubbermaid storage tote out of the way, which had come from my late mother's house a few years before. I wasn't sure what was in it but figured probably more stuff to haul to Goodwill. Boy, was I wrong!Inside the container was an old quilt top, which I recognized by its handiwork as having been made by my grandmother, Lillian, probably back in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Grandma Lillian C., early 1970s, Louisiana.

Grandma loved to sew, and even when her eyesight faded in her later years, she continued to find a way to piece quilts. She used just about everything in the way of fabric and scraps. I even have a quilt she made of polyester double knit hexagons, if you can imagine that.

Grandma's quilt top, c. late 1960s/early 1970s.

This particular quilt top that I found was bold and colorful, which is just how I like 'em. I think Grandma and I were "cut from the same cloth" in that way.I had never seen this quilt top before, and I wondered how long my mom had it. Had Grandma made it with one of her grandchildren in mind? She was known to do that, and since she lived a thousand miles away on the other side of the country (and perhaps because of her eyesight and/or other reasons), she might send a quilt top to Mom and rely on it being quilted and finished on the receiving end. As I looked closely at the various fabrics and handled it, I understood perhaps why Mom had put it away and didn't rush to finish it. There are some challenges to be sorted out, for sure. But on the whole, there's a lot of love in this quilt, and I think it's beautiful and inspirational, like my grandma.

Mom and Grandma, late 1960s, Wisconsin.

The block pattern really intrigued me. I mentioned in my post about finding the quilt that I wanted to try making the block if I could find a pattern. It is entirely pieced, not appliqued. I hadn't seen anything quite like it, but I thought I might find it in one of my older reference books (no such luck). And here is where I tell you what you already probably know: Fellow quilt bloggers are thebest! Within a very short time of that post, Sandi of Piecemeal Quilts drew up the block in her quilt design program, based on the photos I'd posted, and sent me a PDF complete with templates. How amazing and wonderfully generous is that!Two days later, I sent Sandi a photo of the test block I'd made. Though I didn't have a whole lot of experience piecing curves, it all worked out beautifully. The block was square and true to size and lay flat and smooth. I was thrilled!Sandi responded by showing me a sample quilt layout she had created "just playing around" with the blocks set on point. It was simply gorgeous, and I knew I had to make it. Over the next few days, we chatted by email about fabric choices and other possibilities. This was going to be so much fun!

I got started on this quilt right away, and except for the almost-fiasco where I knocked a cup of coffee onto it in the final hours of assembly, it went together really well. I finished the quilt top in early January and sent it off to be quilted.

Sandi did the quilting on her longarm. She filled in the white space with freehand leaves and swirls and did parallel quilting in the cross pieces of the blocks. So pretty! When she was done, Sandi, her mom, and her aunt made the couple-hour drive to delivered it in person, so we finally got to meet!

The fabrics I used are from the Vintage Modern line by Bonnie and Camille for Moda. I loved the turquoise and red color combination. The soft floral prints have a soft, vintage feel, while the overall quilt has a contemporary look.

I'd like to make another one of these, maybe a wild and scrappy version next time around. I think Grandma would be tickled!

Would you like to give it a try? Stay tuned, because I will be doing a tutorial on how to make the four-lily block in the coming weeks, and I hope you'll join me for that. In addition, Sandi and I are finishing the pattern for this quilt, which should be available in the near future, as well.Thanks so much for taking time to visit, and I hope you will stop back again soon!

What a great treasure to find! I came across a stack of elongated hexagons cut out by my grandmother but never pieced together. That is my next challenge, as I have never quilted :) I read your blog regularly and enjoy your posts.

So I just popped over from the festival. This is amazing and I am so happy to hear that you are going to be sharing the pattern. I've never sewn a curve but I hope that it will work out :) Thanks for giving us a chance to try.

Wonderful story in how your quilt came into being. Wouldn't your grandmother be tickled to see how she inspired your beautiful quilt?I love it! It's absolutely gorgeous and I will look forward to the pattern.